New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajanth Singh said that Indian Air Force (IAF) Group Captain Varun Singh is on life support at the Military Hospital in Wellington, and all efforts are being made to save his life.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, he also said the officer's health condition is critical but stable, ANI reported.
The lone survivor of the IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter crash that killed CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others on Wednesday is under watch and would be shifted to the Command Hospital in Bangalore, if required, the minister said.
Singh also announced that Air Marshal Manvendra Singh is heading the tri-services inquiry into the air crash. Manvendra Singh is the Commander of the Indian Air Force’s training command.
The IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter crashed in the Nilgiri hills of Coonoor district in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. Gen Rawat was on his way to Wellington.
"With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident," a tweet by the Indian Air Force read Wednesday.
The Russian made Mi-17V5 helicopter carrying CDS Bipin Rawat and others was heading to the Defence Staff Services College in Wellington before it crashed shortly after taking off from the Army Base in Sulur in Coimbatore.
The IAF said Group Captain Varun Singh, Directing Staff at DSCC, was undergoing treatment at the Military Hospital in Wellington.
Group Captain Varun Singh had received the Shaurya Chakra this year on Independence Day for saving his LCA Tejas fighter aircraft during an aerial emergency last year.